Friends.

I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop, with an iced dirty chai on my left, and a cute journal with calligraphy on the right.

 

There’s nice, calming music playing. I’m sitting at the bar on a comfy chair and watching people laugh and talk and hug and read.

 

I’m reading in Ephesians on my iPhone, on my She Reads Truth app. And as I look around at how “trendy” this whole scene is..

And I wonder if I would still want Jesus if it’s all taken away.

Right now, this scene is calming. It’s beautiful. It’s joyful. It looks nice. It’s clean. It’s quiet. There’s nice music and really good chai and nice people. My cute journal makes my heart happy and I love my sunglasses, phone, and laptop all snug on my portion of the bar.

 

But if it was all taken away..

If there was no music playing.

If the seats were gone… just the floor left.

If I didn’t have a cute journal.

If I didn’t have an iPhone with the cute She Reads Truth app.

If I didn’t have good coffee; if I didn’t see others reading the Bible; if I wasn’t here in this nice, young, trendy scene…

Would I still want Jesus?

Would I still read and meditate on His word?

Would I still desire to spend time with Him?

 

Oh golly, yes it’s a heavy question. But don’t assume your answer would be yes.

For me, and probably for a lot of us, this lifestyle is all that we have ever known, especially long-term.

I feel like Jesus, like this whole “Christian” thing with pretty words like grace and spirit and faith, is sometimes adopted just for the sake of trendiness.

And it kind of makes me sick to my stomach.

It makes me feel like I need to go on a run to let my frustration out. (And I rarely go on runs. So that means it really gets me.)

 

My dear friends, Jesus Christ is so much more than to be solely associated with flowers and cute calligraphy on mugs and journals.

So much more than an aesthetically pleasing environment for the sake of the Instagram picture.

So much more than a name to be frivolously tossed around to sound spiritual and good.

Jesus Christ is the sweet, roaring Savior of my soul who died an aggressively brutal and cruel death on old, rotting wood with some scrap nails, just to rise from the grave itself to the heavenly places, all to save me, to forgive me, to give me victory, to love me, to be with me.

Jesus Christ is not “trendy”… for that implies He’s a trend.

No, no, no, my dear sister, Jesus Christ is the Savior and Lord, a title that cuts to the very core of my heart and demands overwhelming honor and admiration with trembling.

 

So with that, and my heart beating way faster than normal, let’s set our hearts on this:

I want to praise the name of Jesus even if it is not trendy, not popular, not cool, not encouraged and not looked highly of.

I want to read and meditate on His word even if it’s not accompanied with coffee and flowers, with a leather-bound Bible, with space to journal and draw beautiful calligraphy.

I want to sing His praises even if the songs aren’t known by the masses, even if the melodies aren’t sweet and beautiful, even if the words don’t flow.

So I don’t care if you take it all or leave it all.

The coffee shop journaling times, the sweet-sounding words, the Instagram aesthetics, the nice tables and comfy chairs, praises from people who love it all….

Take it or leave it.

I don’t care, because I just want Jesus.

 I just want Jesus.

 

I want His praises to flow freely from my lips, words of real and deep admiration.

I want His word to be wrapped around my heart, stored at the very core.

I want His name to hold the highest honor and deepest admiration in my heart, with thankfulness and passion overflowing at the very sound of it.

 

In the dark. In the light.

In the dirt. In the palace.

In isolation. In community.

In the popular. In the persecution.

 

With journals. With scraps of paper.

With iced coffee. With nothing to drink.

With a table of friends. With no one at all.

With flowers. With weeds and shrubs and dirt.

 

In a comfortable coffee shop. In a basement, hiding from persecution.

In a room with lights all around. With a candle lighting but a fragment of it all.

In a crowd, all praising His name. In a crowd, amidst persecution and danger and slander.

In the beautiful and the brutal.

Just give me Jesus.

 

There is nothing, nothing wrong with the coffee, flowers, calligraphy, leather Bible scene. Remember, I’m sitting here, in it, right now. May we enjoy it when we are blessed by it.

But may we have a love that goes deeper than the beauty. An allegiance that stands firm in the brutal.

 

If it brings me flowers or brings me flogging,

Just give me Jesus.

 

He’s the One my heart craves; the One my soul desires.

Just give me Jesus.

 

With much, much love. And a deep allegiance to the One who saved my soul. –Melissa

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